In the spring of 1932, La Cucina Italiana published an interview with a white-haired lady in her 70s named Marietta Sabatini. For most of her life, she worked the right hand of Pellegrino Artusi, author of La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well), published 1891.
Born in a small Tuscan village to a peasant family, Marietta learned to read, write and sew. After her father passed away, she sought employment in Florence where she had her fateful first meeting with Artusi, who had moved there from his native Forlimpopoli in Emilia-Romagna. He hired her as his housekeeper, and thus began a partnership that profoundly impacted Italian cuisine. Marietta became part of the family. Along with the Romagnolo chef Francesco Ruffilli who Arutusi had later hired, she made his grand cookbook enterprise possible.
Artusi was not a chef, but an intellectual gourmet who dedicated himself to his passion after a lifetime of work. "He treated me like a daughter. He kept me informed of all his things, and I, a humble little woman, helped him as much as I could," said Marietta modestly.
"Humble little woman" not so much. The book Domestici scrittori, written by two gastronomy scholars Monica Alba and Giovanna Frosini, examines the correspondence between Marietta and Artusi, which verifies the importance of the role that his "most devoted" cook, as she loved to sign her name, played in his life.
Marietta didn't just take care of the house nor did she limit herself to making his culinary experiments possible, which, as she says, “sometimes succeeded, sometimes not.” She went through eight capons trying to perfect the Cappone in vesica, recipe. She dealt with suppliers and with the publisher, organized trips and vacations, and acted as a go-between for people who want to ask for something of Artusi, including his relatives.
The older Artusi got, the more indispensable Marietta became. He mentions her in his recipe book: "She is a good cook and so good and honest that she deserves that I name this cake after her, having learned it from her," he writes, referring to the Panettone Marietta named in her honor.
And how much she contributed, together with the cook Francesco, to the success of the great book, is demonstrated by the fact that Pellegrino Artusi bequeathed them the copyright of his bestseller. "Not a wife, behind Science in the Kitchen, but an independent and strong woman, intelligent and determined, to whom we owe recipes and content," concludes Giovanna Frosini concludes. Grazie, Marietta!
Artusi's Brigidini
The birthplace of Marietta Sabatini, Massa e Cozzile, is about 12 miles from Lamporecchio, "home" of those crispy wafers so-called for their creators, the nuns of St. Bridget. Artusi describes them as follows: "A sweet, or better, special Tuscan pastry found at all country fairs and festivals, baked in public in the form of wafers." Our head chef Joëlle Néderlants adapted Artusi's original recipe into the version below.
Brigidini 2020 Recipe by Joëlle Néderlants
50 pieces
Skill Level medium
Time 2 hours with the waffle maker
Shortcut 50 minutes in the oven
Vegetarian
Ingredients for 50 pieces:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. star anise seeds
2 large eggs
aniseed liqueur
salt
Mix the eggs with powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp. liqueur and the crushed aniseed powder. Add the flour, mixing in half at a time. If the mixture feels too sticky, add an additional ½ Tbsp. flour. The dough should feel similar to a shortcrust pastry, but a little softer.
Form walnut-shaped balls; roll them out into a very thin layer on a floured surface. Place the discs in the waffle iron for 1-2 minutes.
Alternatively, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the discs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350°F for 5-6 minutes until lightly browned.
Place the brigidini in airtight boxes and store them in a dry place. They'll keep for up to the weeks.
Photo: Riccardo Lettieri